Daily Ramblings

Giordano done for the year, Vermette and Timonen debut for Chicago and more...

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For a trade deadline in which all of the big names had already been moved yesterday was still surprisingly busy. I won't lie though, I slept through a bunch of it. One of those rare years when you actually get sick on deadline day.

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The biggest news to come out yesterday wasn’t a trade but an injury report. Mark Giordano is done for th

Find out the pros and cons to different types of fantasy drafts and which one works best for your league

For many fantasy hockey fanatics, the last month represented the most exciting period in the NHL calendar. Despite the obvious fact that there’s, you know, no hockey being played, the annual entry draft followed swiftly by the opening of the free agent frenzy injects an electricity into the air that is unmatchable. And for the nerds like me that populate many a fantasy league, the team building process is every bit as intriguing as anything that actually happens on the ice.

So too with hockey pools. Whether your league’s draft coincides with that of the NHL, or you wait until early fall to make your picks, no day is as hotly anticipated as draft day.

With armchair GMs around the world having just witnessed the proceedings in Philadelphia, it seems an appropriate time to give some thought to one of the most fundamental issues faced by any fantasy commissioner: determining the style of draft that is the best fit for your league. There are a number of options, and while we each may have a personal preference, each type of draft has its place. The key is to match the draft style to the unique circumstances of your league.

Below are the four major draft options, with some guidance as to which type of draft may be the most effective for your league.

Box-Style Pools

Many a fantasy player has taken their first steps into a whole new world through a box-style pool. In a box pool, players are segmented into groupings (typically about six players per group, though this varies), and managers select the player in each group that they think will accumulate the most fantasy points, based on the league’s scoring system. Generally, every player in each group plays the same position, and players of similar value are grouped together to make the decisions as tough as possible. By its very nature, in this type of pool, players can be owned by more than one manager.

This style of draft has a number of advantages. It’s ideal for pools with more than 30 managers, like Dobber’s annual playoff pool which draws hundreds if not thousands of participants. It eliminates the problem of finding a draft date that works for everyone, since managers can make their choices in their own time. It’s also very easy to administer, and can draw more casual hockey fans than a more in-depth league.

On the downside, it feels less competitive and involved. Often, participants don’t even know who their opponents have selected. As well, the top teams in the league will usually have very similar rosters, with key players being owned by multiple teams and thus cancelling each other out, and just a few players being the difference between winning and losing. Participants tend to lose interest quite quickly because their personal investment is low; often, they will choose a team and then forget all about it, as they focus on more competitive and active leagues.

Despite the limitations, there is a time and place for the box pool. It’s ideal for a large public pool, or a fundraising pool. Indeed, something like Dobber’s playoff pool would be nearly impossible to run any other way.

Straight Draft

A straight draft is one that mimics the NHL draft: managers take turns selecting players, and the order of selection stays the same every round (barring trades). Players can only be drafted to one team.

The defining feature of the straight draft is that the teams drafting early in each round have a major drafting advantage over those drafting late in the round. Whether this is a good or a bad thing depends on your league.

In the NHL, the straight draft favours the lower ranked teams from the previous season, giving them the earliest picks and therefore the chance to draft the best players who will presumably turn around the team’s fortunes (theoretically, at least… *cough* Oilers *cough*).

The same holds true in fantasy leagues. This makes the straight draft entirely inappropriate for a one-year league, in which every team begins with an empty roster. If you’re going to run a straight draft in a single season league, you might as well award the trophy to the team at the top of the draft order, and forego the draft altogether. Likewise, this style of draft should not be used for the inaugural draft in a keeper league, as it would give the early pickers an advantage that will take years for others to overcome.

However, in an ongoing keeper league that has already played one or more seasons, the straight draft is a good choice. It fulfills the same function as it does in the NHL, giving the weaker teams a chance to improve more quickly, making the strong teams work harder to stay on top, and raising the interest level for everybody.

Snake Draft

The snake draft is a fantasy creation, as I’m not aware of any real life sports leagues that use a snake draft (I’m open to correction on this).

In a snake draft, the draft order “snakes” back and forth each round, so the manager who picks first in Round 1 picks last in Round 2, and so on. The idea is that this equalizes the draft, as the good fortune of landing the first-overall pick is offset by having to wait a very long time for pick number two.

There’s a wide variety of opinion on where the advantage lies in a snake draft. Some argue that there’s no substitute for superstar talent, and it’s best to pick early in Round 1 and take your chances in Round 2. Others prefer drafting late in the order, getting two high end talents but perhaps no superstar. Some like to be in the middle, consistently drafting every 12 picks or so, while others love the back-to-back picks that come from being at the top or bottom of the draft order.

Though it’s not without its drawbacks, the snake draft is the best style if you want to avoid any team gaining an obvious advantage based on the draft order. This makes it ideal for a one-year office pool, or the first year of a keeper league.

Player Auction

For something totally different, there’s the player auction. Instead of simply choosing players, managers take turns placing players up for bid. Teams are given a set salary cap, and bid on players, with the highest bid winning the player.

This system eliminates draft order from the equation altogether. It gives every manager the chance to land whichever players they want most; they just have to be willing to pay the price. It introduces a new layer of strategy, as managers have to carefully allocate their money. Will you spend big on a few superstars and then fill out your roster with players from the bargain bin, or will you take a more balanced approach?

The major downside is that it can take a long time to complete. The first time I ran an auction, it took more than three times as long as our previous year’s draft. This can be mitigated to some extent by making it a silent auction: instead of taking turns bidding until all but one manager drops out, managers are given a few seconds to write down their bid privately. Bids are then revealed simultaneously, and the top bid takes the player.

The auction draft is fun if you’ve got lots of time and you’re in the mood for something different. It’s also ideal if you’re running a salary cap league in which you set your own player salaries; the winning bid becomes the player’s starting salary. But for more casual poolies, the auction may require too much planning or simply take too long.

So, let’s discuss: what type of draft have you found to be most effective for your league?

Comments

I am a HUGE fan of auction drafts, especially in combination with keepers/dynasty rules. In my main money league, we have an auction draft where the winning bid becomes the salary. Any player obtained in the auction can be signed to a 5-year contract at that price. On top of that, we have a prospect roster; when promoted, they can be signed to a 5-year entry level deal at $5. So for example, I had Stamkos and Giroux as prospects, so I had 5 years of them at $5 vs a market value of say $50. At the end of a season, we also have a parity draft, where the bottom 8 teams each pick one unprotected player from the top 4 teams. This all ensures turnover of the top players and allows everyone a chance to win every year. Too many leagues don't have a mechanism to do this, so you wind up with stacked teams and less competition.

i remember our original auction draft, - took over 12hrs - now the annual auction takes about 5 hours. Is a good time of year, connect with some guys you only see once a year. Sometimes your strategy gets blown out of the water when someone over bids on a guy you target or prospect (most teams are on Dobber now). Auction is my favorite but am liking dynasty as well as you now have to know your prospects. Thanks Dobber community.

We have used an auction draft for 27 years. Each team can protect 8 players going into the next year. In order to help the lower teams, we hold an Equalization Draft prior to the Auction Draft. In that draft the higher placed teams have to unprotect some of their 8 players. The lower teams can pick in two rounds, having to drop one of their 8 guys to put the new guy into their roster. No team can lose more than 2 players.

First off, thanks for the nice overview including the respective downside. I am a big fan of the auction draft, the only thing that gets a bit messy (besides the mentioned time frame) in keeper leagues is how you are handling the money situation in the future. Because if anyone gets the same money, weaker teams/GMs have a tough time to catch up. But I have no "perfect" formula to define some spread. Another possibility would be the introduction of a cap but then there is the question of its height and whether it should be static or in some way dynamically adjusted. Would be interested in experiences with solutions to this.

Daily Ramblings

Giordano done for the year, Vermette and Timonen debut for Chicago and more...

*

For a trade deadline in which all of the big names had already been moved yesterday was still surprisingly busy. I won't lie though, I slept through a bunch of it. One of those rare years when you actually get sick on deadline day.

*

The biggest news to come out yesterday wasn’t a trade but an injury report. Mark Giordano is done for the year with a torn biceps. That’s one of those ones that’s so bad that I’m not even sure anyone benefits. I mean, Dennis Wideman, TJ Brodie and Kris Russell will all see more minutes to help pull up the slack but without Giordano there to help get that puck moving in the right direction, those minutes won’t be near as productive.